The People Part of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Telecommuting Impact on Property Prices … The possibilities afforded by telecommuting and virtual work can have definite impacts on property prices in rural and country areas. “Workers who move to smaller rural cities or towns and keep their city jobs by telecommuting are driving up property prices so that locals can no longer afford to live there, a taskforce has declared …. Broadband internet has seen an increase in the number of urban professionals moving to the country but continuing to work in their city jobs.” IBN News
• Problems with Remote Work … Problems with remote work include boundary control (the ability for a manager to affect how an employee splits their time between work and personal), isolation (alienation of the worker from fellow workers), negative team dynamics (tacit awareness of status), and more. Project Shrink: The Blog
• 20 Tips for Success with Remote Work … Leo’s list of 20: (1) create a work ritual, (2) simplify, (5) schedule chores, family, breaks and meals, (6) find quiet, (9) communicate progress and issues regularly, and (18) minimize interruptions, among others. FreelanceSwitch
• Out of Sight? To Whom? … In reference to this statement, “Over 60% of 1,320 global executives surveyed by executive search firm Korn/Ferry International said they believe that telecommuters are less likely to advance in their careers in comparison to employees working in traditional office settings. Company executives want face time with their employees” … Graham asks: when my daily reality involves working with people in many locations, who should I sit next to? “If I want to speak to someone I see what their availability is by using the corporate IM solution (SameTime), I do this whether I am in the office or working from home. I have as good, if not better, access to all of the facilities I need from home. In other words, my assessment is that taking all things into account, where I work isn’t an issue.” Graham Chastney
• Key Need for Telecommuters? Reliable High-Speed Internet … How does a region make itself attractive to would-be white collar professionals who want to telecommute? High-speed internet connectivity is #1. Others include “nice weather, infinite hiking trails and a small airport close by.” Outside Erie

The Technology Trends of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Fourteen Tools for a Productive Distributed Team … Kyle lists 14 tools that a software-development distributed team should consider for enhanced productivity: telephone, IM, email, travel, documents, screen sharing, screencasts, audio recordings, screen shots, mockups, issue / bug tracking, source control, code review, and automated builds. Kyle Cordes (actually, I prefer a different way of framing up the tooling, but then I would)
• Web 2.0 Infrastructure = Business as Usual … The implementation of Web 2.0 tools and technologies at work is no different to other IT implementations. The first step: “Both Borsch and Craig advise IT managers to familiarize themselves with Web 2.0 so they can safely implement new applications. The first step is to identify which technologies and services can help the company, then take control of the Web 2.0 applications that users have already brought in on their own.” Search SMB
• Spencer Parikh on Central Desktop … Spencer from VentureLinx (a business consulting firm) outlines why and how they’re using Central Desktop (“clarity”, “cross-organizational collaboration with clients”), adoption factors (price, functionality, private label options, consistency), and benefits (“overall operations have improved by at least 50%”). CentralDesktop
• Risks of Documents Left About … Tom talks to the compliance, reputation and e-discovery risks of leaving documents scattered on end user machines. NextPage (podcast, 7m44s)
• What’s Wrong with Wikis … Pedro dissects what’s wrong with the current generation of wiki software: (1) it’s browser based, and so is designed around the constraints of the browser, (2) they should be done using a distributed version control system, (3) the offline experience isn’t very good, and (4) there’s no support for trust levels of edits. “The mentality that is preventing us to move forward in a collaborative world, is that people are creating a very strong link between the concepts of collaboration and web-based system, like you can’t have a collaborative system without the second one. That is wrong on so many levels. The web should be just one of the mechanism in which you share the knowledge, but starting the design of a wiki based on the assumption that the only interface will be a web browser severely limits his potential. It’s time to stop building version control systems on top of SQL databases, and move to the real thing. Its time to let the content of Wikis be free, easily available, to be used in ways not restricted by the web environment.” Notes
• Webinar on Collaboration Technology Benefits … “e-Builder, the leading provider of web-based Construction Project Management and Collaboration Software, today announced an educational webcast to discuss The Impact of Collaborative Technology on Capital Project Management, August 28th 2007, at 12:00 p.m. EDT. This is the third in a series of educational webcasts led by Dr. Robert Cox, Ph.D., Department Head and Professor of Building Construction Management at Purdue University.” PRWeb

Insights on Being Productive and Effective as an Individual

• Productivity On-the-Go … Laura outlines how to be productive when living out of a suitcase. Key concepts: (a) pack efficiently, (b) have your laptop with you all the time, (c) have a plan for what work you can do during downtime, (d) embrace the smartphone, (e) back up to a thumb drive, and (j) get EVDO, among others. “I hope these tips help you spend your time as a road warrior more productively, and more importantly, have less to do when you return home—so you can squander more time reuniting with your loved ones.“Laura Stack
• 30-10 … Trick yourself into doing tasks you’d rather not by focusing on them for 30 minutes, and then rewarding yourself for 10 minutes with an activity you’d rather do, eg, checking email. ZenHabits
• Don’t Lose Ideas … Glen outlines 8 ways to ensure you capture your good ideas, which he says is a key to becoming more efficient in the future. “These 8 tools cover nearly every scenario where a thought might be lost. Effectively working these tools into your collection and productivity system will enable you to have piece of mind that you’ll never have the regret of forgetting that one great task, idea, or date.” LifeRemix
• “Did-Do” List … Jeffrey keeps a list of what he did do during the day, not a list of what he must / should / oughta do. “It’s almost like a game–each day chasing down more items to put on the list to make me feel productive. On a simple page of a notebook I write the date and everything I do, as I do it. Before noon I have a great list and a desire to complete far more.” LifeHacker

Other Noteworthy Insights

• Enterprise Mobile 2.0 … Stephen from Nokia considers the implications of enterprise 2.0 for mobility in general and Nokia in particular. He uses Tim O’Reilly’s principles essay from 2005 as his organizing framework. 3dPeople
• “I might move to Linux” … Jim has almost had enough of the bad quirks of Vista. Chris Pirillo